U.S. death toll hits 900 in Iraq; 6,000 injured

Posted: Thursday, July 22, 2004

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - American soldiers in Iraq have been dying at a rate of two a day since Iraqis regained political control June 28, a drop from the deadliest months of violence before the handover but still about the same rate overall as in the 16 months since the U.S. invasion.

The U.S. military death toll now has reached 900, and the number of American soldiers injured is approaching 6,000.

It is not possible to predict when the casualty count will begin to drop, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Wednesday. American troops will be less at risk when Iraq's own security forces become better trained and equipped to fight the insurgency, he said.

Fewer U.S. soldiers have been killed by roadside bombs and mortar attacks since the handover, according to Pentagon figures. At the same time, at least 10 soldiers and Marines have been killed in vehicle accidents since then, compared with none reported earlier in June.

As of Wednesday, 47 American troop deaths, hostile and non-hostile, had been announced in the three weeks since an interim Iraqi government took power.

That was a marked increase from the 26 deaths reported in the three weeks before the handover but less than in May and April.

The death rate since the power transfer has been almost exactly two a day, the same as recorded between January and July. The rate over the entire period since the invasion in March 2003 has been about 1.9 a day.

The worst months so far have been April 2004 with 135 deaths, November 2003 with 82 and May 2004 with 80.

In addition to the 900 reported killed so far, according to The Associated Press count, another soldier, Spc. Keith M. "Matt" Maupin, of Batavia, Ohio, is listed as missing and two Defense Department civilians also have been killed.